Monday, February 11, 2013

Dan Bice has the scoop about $500 "loyalty checks" from lobbyists that were sought and scored by Fundraising Savant and GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos - - payments separate from traditional campaign contributions forked over by lobbyists' clients:

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and his GOP leadership team found a new system this past election cycle:Shake down the lobbyists for personal donations...The result: Vos collected $36,000 in personally signed checks from
scores of lobbyists in the final months before the November election...

But where others see a new wrinkle in this iteration of pay for play access - - or monetizing loyalty oaths, perhaps - - I see legislators stuck in the papered world of the 70's and 80's.Signed paper checks? In an era of direct deposit and electronic transfers?Why don't lobbyists simply give their credit card account information to legislators who could just collect, withdraw or redirect the funds?Or for those still wedded to checks, GOP leaders could install a dedicated ATM in a leadership anteroom just off the floor where lobbyists could deposit their checks, and legislative leaders could then tap in a PIN for immediate withdrawals.I'll bet the keypad could be configured with a legislative appointment calendar so meetings could be set up, as they say, post haste and quid pro quo.There has to be an app for that.

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James Rowen's Bio

James Rowen, a writer and consultant, has worked for newspapers, and as the senior Mayoral staffer, in Madison and Milwaukee, WI. This blog began on 2/2/ 2007. Posts run also at various news sites, including The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's "Purple Wisconsin."